Bucharest climbed from 169 in 2013 to 159 in 2014, as the cost of living has increased. Sofia and Belgrade also register higher living costs and climbed from 181 to 172 and from 192 to 184, respectively, but still remain cheaper than Bucharest. Warsaw followed the same trend and climbed to 142 in 2013 from 150 in 2012.
The evolution of the cost of living in each city is directly influenced by the country’s economy, the survey notes, adding costs have gone down in Prague and Budapest. Prague dropped to 92 from 73 and Budapest to 135 from 130.
Mercer Cost of Living is one of the most comprehensive such surveys in the world and is drawn up to help multinationals and governments to establish the level of pay for expat workers. New York is used as a reference and currency exchange rates are measured against the US dollar.
The survey covers 211 cities on five continents and compares the costs of over 200 products and services.
The top two most expensive cities in the ranking are Luanda (Angola) and N’Djamena (Chad). European and Asian cities continue to dominate the top ten, with Hong Kong on 3, followed by Singapore, Zurich, Geneva, Tokyo, Bern, Moscow and Shanghai.